Nitrogen–nitrogen bond-containing natural products: isolation, bioactivity, synthesis, biosynthesis, and pharmacology

Natural products that contain nitrogen-nitrogen (N–N) bonds are a class of natural products consisting of multiple functional groups with important biological activities. Currently, such molecules have been widely isolated from microorganisms, plants, and marine organisms. In recent years, due to the novel skeletal structures and unique biological activities of these compounds, research into their synthetic routes and mechanisms of action continues to be increasingly in-depth. Therefore, this review summarizes the isolation and identification of 131 N–N bond-containing compounds of microbial origin, biosynthesis and synthesis, with special emphasis on the summary of the mechanism of N–N bond formation and pharmacological elaboration during the period of 2014–2024, laying the foundation for future research into the drug development potential of compounds containing N–N bonds.